Editorial: Commerce secretary choice John Bryson must get Senate OK

Associated PressPresident Barack Obama stands with John Bryson, his nominee to be the next Commerce Secretary, right, and current Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, background, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

There are few Goldilocks candidates in contemporary Washington. Imagine a nominee for a major post who is not too hot, not too cold, but just right, someone who could win praise from factions that are generally on opposite sides of a fight.

John Bryson, President Obama’s choice to head the Commerce Department, is as close as we’ve come in some time. The onetime environmental activist turned corporate executive won praise from those who lobby for clean energy and from those who stand up for increased business activity.

As such, he’s a candidate who ought to sail on through the Senate confirmation process without a hitch.

Sadly, Senate Republicans are vowing to block Bryson’s nomination, linking his approval to stalled trade pacts with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. They are picking the wrong fight at the wrong time.

We, too, wish for the trade pacts to go forward. But there is absolutely no need to connect those agreements to Bryson’s nomination.

The Commerce Secretary-designee was a founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He later went on to head Edison International, a California-based energy conglomerate, for two decades.His selection by Obama was praised by parties from both sides of that equation. Finding someone like that is no easy task.

Our nation needs someone at Commerce who has had his feet firmly planted in both worlds.

Those who think we can get along just fine without a head of the Commerce Department could take even a cursory look at any group of economic indicators to quickly disabuse themselves of that misguided notion.

Senators should vote on Bryson’s nomination – and then move on. If some of them feel like ranting about trade pacts, they should do so freely. But don’t hold up a vote on Bryson. He’s the right man at the right time.